An ongoing series of articles on songs & performances of the early Grateful Dead.

December 3, 2010

Jerry Garcia Interview Links

For some time I’ve lamented that there isn’t a complete archive of Jerry Garcia interviews online. Many interviews in old publications are now more or less inaccessible – a few have been reprinted; a few others have been transcribed online; a few circulate in audio.
So I’ve decided to at least take a small step and try compiling links to the various interviews available to read or hear online. This list is just a start, and is meant to be a work in progress – I hope readers can suggest other interviews I’ve missed, so I can make additions.

This list is not meant to cover what’s available in books or DVDs – it’s a list of weblinks, not a bibliography. I was hesitant to include youtube videos; but there’s a lot of good material there. I drew the line, though, at listing every ten-second snippet!
I also (somewhat arbitrarily) decided not to include downloads, only things that can be streamed.
This is arranged by date – I tried to list the actual interview dates, but sometimes had to settle for publication date.

UPDATED June 2015 with some youtube interviews added (and others deleted). I'm sure I've missed or forgotten other items online, so it would be appreciated if people could point out some of those!

October '74 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve3NqNo7yEA (unreleased interview done for the Grateful Dead Movie) [Dead.net also had an unedited clip of this interview on a "Celebrating Jerry" page a couple years ago]

’87 (video) - NBC News On Stage, Jerry Garcia Speaks, vol. 1 - used
to be on
hulu.com/watch/11363/nbc-news-on-stage-grateful-dead-jerry-garcia-speaks-vol-1
as well as sidereel.com video, Amazon instant video, etc., but no
longer available for streaming

41 comments:

Sadly, due to lack of time, this may be the last post I make here until late January. (Unless I can think of some really short topics... The things I want to write about, though, are all big time-intensive projects, so they'll have to wait for now.)

Thank-you LiA . This is from the '92 Tricycle article . It demonstrates of of the aspects of Garcia that I respect and appreciate the most .Barbara Meier: You don't impose any political message.

Jerry Garcia: I couldn't do it. The power is frightening.

Barbara Meier: Are you ever tempted?

Jerry Garcia: No. I thought, if I'm going to be onstage I'm not going to sayanything to anybody or address the crowd, because it doesn't matter what yousay, sometimes just the sound of your voice might inadvertently set somebodyoff. The situation with psychedelics is so highly charged that you neverknow what's leaking in. I don't mind doing it in the music, because that'swhere I divest myself of ego. It's egoless, something I trust. If the bandhas something to protect, it's the integrity of the experience, whichremains shapeless and formless. As long as it stays that way, everything'sokay.-micah

How could I have forgotten this short Garcia interview from July 1964? He talks about the different musical elements of the Mother McCree's jugband, and what the future holds for the bandmembers. Prophetic.

"I am so pleased to see my interview with Jerry from 1970 archived. I always felt it was special but I don't think I dreamed that 41 years later people would still find it of interest, yet they clearly do.The interview was kind of a blind shot in the sense I had no connections to the Dead. I got the interview because they played my college (Queens) and as an editor on the college newspaper I was able to get on stage while they were tuning up. I went directly up to Jerry at an opportune moment, handed him four reefers and asked him for an interview. He gave me the name of the band's manager and told me to call the next day. I called and they let me come up later in the afternoon.When I got to the room at the hotel, there were quite a few people hanging out while Jerry just sat there and played riffs for about a half hour or so. When he finished, he turned to me and said okay, what do you want to know.I had prepared for the opportunity by reading The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe and had a lot of questions about the formation of the group and how they got together with the Merry Pranksters. Jerry patiently answered every question I had. The rest is, as they say, history. The interview was featured in Action World and was snapped up the moment it came out. The interview was periodically reissued by Action World over the years and was always very popular.Ironically, about nine months later I was across the country in Oregon and thought I could get an interview with Ken Kesey. I located his number and actually got him on the phone. I asked him for an interview and his response was as follows: "I don't do interviews."Jerry could have certainly taken the same position inasmuch as he was very sought after. He didn't."

I've always wondered about that interview. It seems like a fairly clumsy interview. I mean, starting off with "what happened last night?", asking if he ever jammed with Hendrix -- asking if they still hand out acid at concerts! Was this your first interview? Some of Garcia's responses seem as if he was fairly well ticked-off. Did he give that impression to you at the time?

And Garcia's long "You know, I think everybody should take one step backwards and two steps sideways and let the whole thing collapse" response is classic... Do you remember what kind of he had on his face at that time?

I am trying relentlessly to get in contact with my aunt. She was the housekeeper/ maid for jerry in the 80's i believe. I think she is maybe be involved in the 1/12/85 interview titled "Nora's house". However, when i click on it the link is dead. If anyone could help me i would be so thankful..

Unfortunately, it looks like some guitar site has taken over Jas Obrecht's site, but that interview is still available here: ftp://gdead.berkeley.edu/pub/gdead/interviews/JerryGarcia-complete-1985-interview.txt

Nora isn't mentioned; I've read that the interview took place at Nora Sage's house, but all Obrecht wrote was that it was at "the home of a Grateful Dead supporter who, it turned out, was letting Jerry Garcia live in her basement." (I wonder if this was Rock Scully's place where Garcia was staying, & Obrecht was misinformed.)

Dennis McNally has some negative comments about Nora Sage in his book Long Strange Trip, p. 524 & 589, basically categorizing her as a Garcia-stalker "who'd been incessantly sending mail and gifts to Garcia since 1976" and had been removed from a JGB show once at Garcia's request, but "managed to entrench herself" and became his housekeeper & drug connection. In 1991 Garcia apparently asked NY artist Vince Di Biase to "take over his art business from Nora Sage, who annoyed Garcia with her aggressive commercial instincts."

Blair Jackson interviewed her for his Garcia bio and has a more positive portrayal, basically presenting her as his caretaker who more or less saved his life in the '80s & got him turned around from the depths of his drug addiction, but got shut out afterwards - see p.337-38, 344-46, 350, & 413-14. (There are also a few comments in Robert Greenfield's Dark Star bio, p.207-08.)

Though she seems to have been very close to Garcia in the early '80s, she had some enemies among Garcia's other friends, and Garcia eventually kicked her out of the house after his coma in 1986. At some point after that, she became his art agent, but by '91 he wanted someone else to do that too. So it seems to have been an off-and-on relationship - which wasn't uncommon at all with people who knew Garcia; various factions formed around Garcia, and he could often fall out with someone for years & then reconnect.

The aftermath: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Jerry-Garcia-Estate-Sued-in-Dispute-Over-Art-Sales-3017376.php (As of 1995 she lived in Bend, Oregon.)

I updated this post with a few new links to youtube clips; also corrected many old dead links. Unfortunately, things online have a way of disappearing, so some of these interviews appear to have vanished for now.

As always, I'm sure this list is very incomplete - there are probably many more Garcia interviews scattered across the Web - so more additions are welcome. I'm debating whether to include torrent links as well.

I had a hard time figuring out when it took place: '94 or '95 makes sense. You know it's pretty late because his hair is extremely white: but, he seems a whole lot healthier than I thought he would be at that time. He's pretty damned chipper, actually, in this interview, which makes his death all the more semi-incomprehensible.

I wish the questions being put to him were a little more audible. His reactions to them are pretty funny -- it's as if he can't believe he has to answer the same damned questions he's answered for thirty years now. But, he does his best, and soon has us (or at least me) spellbound with his interpretation of what it all meant...

Sometimes he'll be grumpy at the start of an interview, and then quickly warm up. And many times we can see his reaction to being asked the same questions for the hundredth time - "arggh, again?" He always graciously answers, though. It's very rare to see him uncooperative through an interview; he usually musters up some enthusiasm, and in many of these late interviews he is very chipper.

In a 1991 interview with both Garcia and Hunter (by Blair Jackson, which apparently isn't on the web anywhere), Jerry talked about the origins of "Uncle John's Band":

"At that time I was listening to records of the Bulgarian Women's Choir and also this Greek-Macedonian music, and on one of those records there was a... little turn of melody that was so lovely... I thought, 'Gee, if I could get this into a song it would be so great.' So, I stole it."

Well, OK -- it's nice to know where at least some of the otherness of "Uncle John's Band" is coming from. But -- in the Stoned Sunday Rap, the interview between Charles Reich and Garcia (which also is hard to find on the web), there are also two separate mentions of Bulgaria -- in particular, Bulgarian cuisine. Reich mentions Bulgarian cooking in passing, and Garcia talks about chestnut puree -- "a Bulgarian dessert that's fantastic".

So I guess my question is: What's all this about Bulgaria? Did Garcia have a Bulgarian friend, perhaps? Was there a substantial Bulgarian cultural presence in the Bay area at the time -- e. g., a Bulgarian restaurant or two?

The Bulgarian connection: Back in the 50s, Nonesuch Records put out an album titled the Folk Music of Bulgaria. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Bulgaria David Crosby listened to it, turned lots of other people on to it, and the modal tunings and droning minor key melodies of Bulgarian music thereby made their way, piecemeal, into West Coast folk rock: the music of the Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, CSN and Jerry Garcia. Jerry would have been familiar with Bulgarian music through his friendship with David Crosby. Since both guys liked to eat, they might have checked out Bulgarian food, too. I don't know, but I'd guess there might have been a Bulgarian ethnic enclave somewhere in the Bay Area.

Hi, caught your Blog when I was hunting for information about Nora Sage.

Kinda a long story and am open to share by phone if you're interested but I was married in the early 80's to a woman who had this study partner @ Golden Gate University Law school who claimed she had a boyfriend in a band. ...she wasn't pretty but relatively petite and interesting; ...well for many months she'd come to our apartment & study with my then wife Susan & continue to mention she had a boyfriend in a band; ...frankly I didn't think she had a boyfriend but that was her claim.

After a few months & Nora talking about her boyfriend in a band I said put-up or shut-up meaning if you really have a boyfriend let's meet him since she was mostly camping our at our apartment studying law with my then wife Susan. Nora then says he's famous and asks to see my record albums, I showed them to her, which included bands like the Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Heart, Willie Alexander & the Boom Boom Band, ect.

Then Nora asks me if I like the Greatful Dead which frankly I was not a fan so then Nora tells Susan and I that Jerry Garcia is her boyfriend. At that point, I didn't believe her but she didn't have a car & asked me to take her home (Larkspur) from our apartment on Hyde Street. Susan & I drove her there & sure enough it was Jerry Garcia's duplex but the kind of duplex on the side of a hill where Jerry lived on top & Nora claimed the bottom was open & they lived together.

I can tell you stories about Nora & her somewhat relationship with Garcia which seemed at best to be a sexual pal thing however Nora had access to all his stuff including his Will in the early 80's that showed he had some property in Mendocino county but not much cash @ the time. After that I dropped Nora off many times @ Jerry's place & when Susan & I divorced about 18 months later Susan stayed with Nora in Jerry's bottom half duplex.

Back then I was about 24 working in the Silicon Valley and Jerry wasn't selling many records so he asked me to help him market his music but I declined - he was also working on a screen play then with one of Belushi's & had worked a little with Steve Jobs on some graphic ideas for the Mac. His artwork was everywhere in his top half of the duplex but he hadn't launched the neck ties yet.

When you went in the front door of Jerry's place turned left then walked down a narrow hallway to an open living area that had a couple of lazy-boy recliners, the left wall of that room was full of records; ...he must have dropped whatever he was smoking on the floor because the carpet was covered with burn marks. It was a small place and at first he didn't have a car then one day a friend dropped-off a BMW = he / Jerry was a giver and that day one of his buddies either paid him back or returned a favor.

Susan & Nora used to baby sit for his kids, I was the designated shuttle driver to get Nora to Jerry's concerts in Berkeley in the outside arena and inside a theater but wasn't interested in Jerry's music which was a surprise to him so I seldom attended just dropped her off...

"I was thinking more about Nora last night, she seemed more like a nurse-maid back then meaning Nora had access to all Jerry's stuff & am not certain about any intimacy so I wanted to correct that. I called her a nurse maid back then but she didn't like that. None of it mattered to me at the time -- it all seemed like a sham, meaning she wanted to be part of his life and we didn't see her connected in the same way she described, more of a caretaker.

I do remember Nora saying that Jerry was writing a screen play with a Belushi. I saw the play he was working on as we spent a fair amount of time @ Jerry's place when he was traveling because I had to drop her off many nights after law school or when she was studying with Susan at our apartment on Hyde street.

I was with Nora one of the nights Jerry ended-up in the hospital in the SF area; she said Jerry was addicted to speed balls -- Nora shared he shot-up a combination of coke & heroin I think, but it's been so long ago am pulling from memory. At that time Jerry had left some drugs in this BMW I told you about; we had to figure out a way to get the car -- I don't remember much more other than Jerry was a mess -- it was prob. in the 1984/85 timeframe -- I think his car was downtown SF & he was taken by ambulance to the hospital that night.

I can tell you that Nora was in Law school with my then wife Susan & they reviewed & tried to help him with his Will which I saw as well. It outlined the Mendocino land / property but he didn't have much liquid assets at that time. Jerry grew weed on that land, had a guy tend to it and sold it to his friends; this was in the 1984 - 1985 time-frame when I was still married. The family price for this stuff was $250 but it was amazing or so am told :). Funny thing was he seemed to be less interested in weed and more into the crazy stuff he shot up.

Nora was surprised that I was not into the Dead and that I never wanted to go back stage at the Berkeley concerts, nor did I stay for them after the first one; I think she thought everyone was a Deadhead but frankly I wasn't into their music. Jerry's band also played local gigs downtown SF, I never went but Susan did, it did seem cool that he played big tours with the Grateful Dead but when not traveling played with his band in small bars...

Nora was focused on Law school, it was painful for me to be the taxi but the benefits were having access to the vegetables Jerry was growing :) It was hard to tell but seemed like Nora had a solid friendship with Jerry but more as an older guy-younger girl care taker relationship. Nora would bring Grateful Dead stuff to our apartment like buttons, printed stuff, etc to thank me for the rides but I never accepted the stuff & don't remember if Susan (x-wife) kept it...

Am not sure but probably met Nora through Susan in 1983 / 1984; we moved from Hyde Street to buying an apartment on Fillmore & Bush then within 9 months or so filed for divorce; at that time Susan stayed w/Nora @ Jerry's place. It did seem a little different at the time of our marriage separation that Susan stayed @ Jerry's place in that I had to call his home to speak with her however Jerry was quite gracious to let her stay in bottom duplex & was always kind on the phone to me."

Nora Sage may have been more of a caretaker than a girlfriend. (From other accounts, Jerry's sex life was pretty diminished in those years.) As mentioned in the 2/27/13 comment above, McNally's & Jackson's biographies each have a very different portrayal of Nora and her role. Like many people around Garcia, she probably wanted a bigger role in his life than she had.

Garcia was working on a screenplay for "Sirens of Titan" with Tom Davis in 1984. John Belushi died in early '82, years before; but Davis had worked with Belushi on Saturday Night Live.

I haven't heard of any interaction between Garcia & Steve Jobs; however Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple) sponsored the US Festival in 1982, where the Dead played, so there was some contact with Wozniak at least. (Garcia apparently said at that time, "Technology is the new drugs!")

In the early '80s Jerry was living with his manager Rock Scully on Hepburn Heights in San Rafael, but then in early '84 Scully was fired and moved out, and after that it was just Nora & Jerry. The description here more or less matches that house (a duplex on a hill, Garcia staying in a small room with recliners & burn marks on the floor), though it wasn't in Larkspur but the neighboring San Rafael, and other accounts say Garcia stayed on the bottom floor.

The BMW mentioned here is most likely the same car Garcia was arrested in, in January 1985: http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2014/04/january-18-1985-strung-out-and-busted.html

Not surprised to hear Jerry was on speedballs. That's what killed Belushi, as well as Brent Mydland. But as an addict Jerry was beyond caring at that point; he bottomed out in the mid-80s.He went into a coma in his home in July '86; apparently Nora found him and took him to the hospital, where he stayed for a few weeks. (Nora was told to move out before he came back.) I haven't heard of earlier hospital trips, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were earlier emergencies that haven't been told, given his poor health & constant drug use at the time.

Some of the Dead family didn't like Nora & told her to move out of the house after his coma. She still ran Jerry's art business in the late '80s (I think she pressed him to start selling stuff & do the neckties), but he got tired of her in '91 and got someone else to manage the art business & his property. Last I know of she was still selling art in Oregon.

I've updated this post with a bunch of new youtube links. (Also some links from the concertvault.com Garcia collection; however you have to be a concertvault member to stream those.) I didn't check all the old links to see if they still work - youtube items are taken down all the time, but hopefully get re-uploaded later on.

I've considered also adding Garcia interviews that can be downloaded by torrent from the Lossless Legs site; I might add those someday, but wanted to confine this list to interviews that are streamable online and available to all.

A few Dead interviews/press conferences are here, but I'm sure I've missed some since I wasn't specifically looking for those.

There is also a growing number of early Garcia interviews available on the Dead Sources site, which I've made no attempt to add here.

He probably said something like that more than once.... One that comes to mind is in the 4/28/81 interview in Gans' Conversations with the Dead: "There are ideas that Weir has that I would never have had, that in fact maybe only he has." (p.39)

Unfortunately, it looks like that link got taken down from youtube, so it's not available at the moment unless someone re-uploads it. Little clips are available as teasers for the supposedly upcoming documentary "This Is Jerry," which uses the interview.

As another option for some people, a 3-GB video is available as a torrent download from Lossless Legs: http://shnflac.net/details.php?id=d99edd6c20e8d497993bc28750b41013844c6706 I haven't seen this copy, but the notes seem to mistake the interview for the Steve Marcus interview in October '86. Two different interviews - the Marcus interview has the two of them in the Dead office with a wall of fan art behind them; the Rolling Stone interview just has Jerry with a colored background.

Updated this list with the above, and also the 9/7/81 video interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbtdAWZKLdQ and an excerpt from Paul Krassner's radio interview in May '84: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN4dI4o9VBA The Krassner interview was printed in '85, in part, but the print & radio excerpts each have parts not in the other.